Dock or Tender?

[yarramar]

How does one find out if a ship will dock or tender at a particular port?

 

We are booked on the Sept 10 Ionian Inspiration cruise

 

Will it take longer to disembark either way? If the boat just drops anchor, is that quicker than manouvering into dock from the time listed to arrive at port?

[Supercattonk]

Hi Yarramar

There is a site www.cruisett.com that might help but you still can't be sure if its a Dock or Tender. Also if you look up the Location on Google earth and zoom in to see what the Port facilities look like. If there are 3 or 4 Cruise ships in Port on the same day then its anybodies guess as to who gets the berth!!

TT cruise site will give you an idea if other cruise ships are in on the same day.

Cheers :)

[rhohea]

How does one find out if a ship will dock or tender at a particular port?

 

We are booked on the Sept 10 Ionian Inspiration cruise

 

Will it take longer to disembark either way? If the boat just drops anchor, is that quicker than manouvering into dock from the time listed to arrive at port?

 

 

If you could tell us what port it is you are concerned about someone may be able to tell you from experience.

[Friscorays]

The search tool, top right of screen when signed in, is also a useful option.

[agnesd]

We're on the Nautica cruise in October. Call or email Oceania for your cruise. This is what the told me:

Thank you for your inquiry. There are 5 ports in which we will anchor.

 

PORTOFINO, ITALY

CINQUE TERRE (LA SPEZIA), ITALY

AMALFI/POSITANO, ITALY

SORRENTO/CAPRI, ITALY

TAORMINA (SICILY), ITALY

[capecodder2]

Did you mean 5 ports you will "anchor" or "tender"??? Haven't been to La Spezia, but the others we tendered on various cruises. We had a windy day in Taormina and ended up docking in Messina after an hour of "trying to hold the anchorage". Personally, it isn't a big deal to us either way, dock or tender. Tours get to go at the time necessary and independents when they want for the most part. Those are beautiful ports!

[gillianrose]

Hi Yarramar

There is a site www.cruisett.com that might help but you still can't be sure if its a Dock or Tender. Also if you look up the Location on Google earth and zoom in to see what the Port facilities look like. If there are 3 or 4 Cruise ships in Port on the same day then its anybodies guess as to who gets the berth!!

TT cruise site will give you an idea if other cruise ships are in on the same day.

Cheers :)

 

Just a caution: cruisett.com has many, many errors in it.

[JBVols]

We have just returned from an Az cruise and one of the good things they do is to list on the itinerary if the port is docked or tendered. O should consider doing this.

[LHT28]

We have just returned from an Az cruise and one of the good things they do is to list on the itinerary if the port is docked or tendered. O should consider doing this.

They did do it in the pre cruise booklet you get before you leave home

 

Hope they still send out the booklet

 

Lyn

[agnesd]

The rsponse said "anchor". Doesn't anchor mean that you will have to tender? I don't think they use an anchor at the dock.

[gillianrose]

The rsponse said "anchor". Doesn't anchor mean that you will have to tender? I don't think they use an anchor at the dock.

 

Yes, "at anchor" means that you will need to tender to the dock.

[1985rz1]

We're on the Nautica cruise in October. Call or email Oceania for your cruise. This is what the told me:

Thank you for your inquiry. There are 5 ports in which we will anchor.

 

PORTOFINO, ITALY

CINQUE TERRE (LA SPEZIA), ITALY

AMALFI/POSITANO, ITALY

SORRENTO/CAPRI, ITALY

TAORMINA (SICILY), ITALY

 

You're lucky to get an answer. Our original reservation information listed three anchored/tendered ports in Italy, Cinque Terre, Sorrento/Capri, and Taormina, but our cruise documents listed Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Civitavecchia (Rome), and Taormina as anchored/tendered and docked at Cinque Terre and Sorrento/Capri.

 

We asked our TA to query Oceania for us and she said that Oceania responded that only Taormina was tendered. All the rest were docked.

 

I then forward the conflicting info to Oceania by email, which they acknowledged receiving, but have not yet responded (it's been over a week since acknowledgment).

 

A web search did not reveal any new docking arrangements for Cinque Terre..they have always been tendered.

 

I guess I'm not overly surprised that Oceania has not responded in ant timely way. Their customer service in the past has been spotty...sometimes excellent and sometimes terrible (FDR are you listening?)

 

So I guess we'll see what is the true only on the cruise, but it's not a good situation for planning tours at ports

[yarramar]

So I guess we'll see what is the true only on the cruise, but it's not a good situation for planning tours at ports

 

Which is why I posed the question in the first place.

 

If tendered the tender boat can send us to a number of wharves at a particular port which also impacts on tour planning.

 

At least I now know not to plan in detail and have a plan B in place

[yarramar]

In case anyone else is interested, I searched the boards and found this:

 

 

Rome (Civitavecchia) -D

Portofino -T

La Spezia (Cinque Terre) -T

Monte Carlo - D

Florence/Pisa (Livorno) -D

Amalfi/Positano -T

Sorrento/Capri -T

Taormina (Sicily) -T

Corfu -D

Kotor -D

Dubrovnik -D

Venice -D

[shedevil]

Which is why I posed the question in the first place.

 

If tendered the tender boat can send us to a number of wharves at a particular port which also impacts on tour planning.

 

At least I now know not to plan in detail and have a plan B in place

 

It is wise to have a plan B and a plan C.....just in case.

 

The weather, the traffic in port, labor strikes, and security alerts can all impact where the boat will dock/anchor. One of the biggest problems is being able to predict the "mood of the sea" on the day we are in port. The cruise lines try to plan but they are at the mercy of things outside of their control.

 

If you are making plans with a tour guide or company, they are usually pretty good about tracking the where the ship will be on the day of the tour. They will make arrangements to have their driver/guide at the right location. BUT...it is always good to ask the tour company/guide how they handle such a situation so you are not surprised.

 

If making plans on your own, Cruise Critic is a great place to find suggestions. We are on the Venice to Rome cruise in June and I searched the threads for tendering and dock information on the ports where we have a possibility of having to anchor or change ports. I have downloaded maps and information for the "plan B" locations just in case.

 

The information provided on ship by Oceania for passengers doing their own thing in a port is usually kind of sparse. :( So, be prepared and have your own information. One tip I learned is to search for port information provided by other cruise lines. Several of them have .pdfs with port information on line.

 

I have emailed copies of the information to my free hotmail account and saved everything to a thumb drive as a backup....instead of having to carry lots of papers with me. I have also made .pdf of our hotel confirmations, ship information.....you name it - I have saved it as a .pdf. Now, on ship, I can visit the library and access the thumb drive or my email account to print out my maps, port information, etc....

 

Sometimes a little bit of information can make all of the difference in the world - especially if you are not using a guide. For example, several threads state that when you disembark the ship in Dubronik, turn right and walk in the opposite direction of the bridge to go to the main exit. Taxis have no where to park at the two smaller exits. So, to catch a taxi, you need to go to the taxi area at the main exit.

 

Being prepared and flexible (and always carrying a towel) will make all your adventures more enjoyable. :D

[CintiPam]

In case anyone else is interested, I searched the boards and found this:

 

 

Rome (Civitavecchia) -D

Portofino -T

La Spezia (Cinque Terre) -T

Monte Carlo - D

Florence/Pisa (Livorno) -D

Amalfi/Positano -T

Sorrento/Capri -T

Taormina (Sicily) -T

Corfu -D

Kotor -D

Dubrovnik -D

Venice -D

 

Although Civitavecchia (Rome), Livorno, and Venice always are dock, Monte Carlo is not always dock, nor is Dubrovnik. (We just returned from the April 28 Venice to Barcelona on Regatta and tendered at both those ports.)

[ShopperfiendTO]

In case anyone else is interested, I searched the boards and found this:

 

 

Rome (Civitavecchia) -D

Portofino -T

La Spezia (Cinque Terre) -T

Monte Carlo - D

Florence/Pisa (Livorno) -D

Amalfi/Positano -T

Sorrento/Capri -T

Taormina (Sicily) -T

Corfu -D

Kotor -D

Dubrovnik -D

Venice -D

 

Re: CintiPam's and your post, we have called on all of the ports on your list, and our experience was as you listed except that Dubrovnik was tender, so it does depend for the limited-dock ports.

 

Just as it is always dock in Livorno and Civitavecchia (and I think Venice too), I think it is always tender for Amalfi and Portofino, and perhaps Sorrento (but not Naples) and La Spezia as well.

[plimsol]

Re: CintiPam's and your post, we have called on all of the ports on your list, and our experience was as you listed except that Dubrovnik was tender, so it does depend for the limited-dock ports.

 

Just as it is always dock in Livorno and Civitavecchia (and I think Venice too), I think it is always tender for Amalfi and Portofino, and perhaps Sorrento (but not Naples) and La Spezia as well.

 

When we were in Monte Carlo about two years ago, we tendered since there is only space for one ship at a time and there was another cruise ship in ahead of us. After touring around on our own, we went back to the pier and tendered back. The seas were not smooth and it took almost an hour for the tender captain to get us safely to the ship's landing for us to disembark. It was immediately afterwards that all tendering was suspended until the other cruise ship left and then we could dock.